I wonder... for the past several days, I have been nauseated. Not in the way that I was when I was pregnant, just a little queasiness hiding in the background. I finally figured out that if I force myself to eat, the nausea subsides, which is a good thing. Now, since I am not yet on any treatment program, I have to wonder, is nausea a side effect of cancer as well as a side effect of some of the treatments for cancer? Does anyone know?
Also, from time to time I feel sharp pains in my right eye and dull pain in the left eye socket. God, I hope that does not mean that the cancer has spread out across my face and that it is only referred pain. Again, does anyone know about this stuff?
Lastly, I feel so weak and tired all of the time. I was always under the impression that this sort of thing happens with cancer treatment but maybe it can also be caused by the disease? Or I guess it could be that I am not eating enough (I don't think the equivalent of one meal every 2-3 days is working for me but it is really hard to get any food down). The good news is I did find a source of Otter Pops, so I bought a couple of boxes of 100 pops each. That should hold me for awhile (those things work much better than regular popsicles, they are smaller and easier to manage). The Otter Pops -or other varieties of plastic wrapped, push up popsicles (I really like the Wyler's Tropical pops but they are hard to find) seem to help with the bloody noses by cooling down that area of my face and constricting the blood vessels. And I like them very much.
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I do remember being nauseous, but there wasn't enough time between my gyne taking a second look at my request and saying whoa, where in hell did THAT come from? and them slamming me into surgery to get it out before it phased higher. Literally, a few days. But I remember that I actually had to flee down the hall the day before the surgery, when they were doing the EKG: total uproar in the innards. I wondered then, and now, if some of that was inner panic, and some of it was the damned painkillers they had me taking.
In re the pains in the eye socket, I'm not an expert, but again, remember all that inflamation in there? Swelling would press against the nerves surrounding the supraorbital ridge. I suspect that both the presence of the disease itself and the general inflamation and soft tissue irritation are contributing to that. Feh.
This body stuff, it is not for wimps, oh no.
Maybe just not eating is causing some of the nausea. If your stomach is empty, and the digestive juices are flowing anyway, it could be hard on the GI lining. It is good that you aren't throwing up. If you do, I would call your Dr. to see about a nausea med. As you know, it will be important for you to be in the best nutritional state possible before treatment.
As far as the pain, I would imagine it is irritation in the sinuses which are all over that general facial area.
If you like smoothies, or something else that is frozen that contains more nutritional value than pops it would be good to try this, too. The pops are keeping your fluid intake up,which is good..... but not protein & vitamins. What about Gatorade? Or Ginger Ale? Sometimes the ginger helps nausea. Maybe talk with the Dr. about adding vitamin supplements? Even stuff like Slimfast has some nutritional value. There are some other types sold in the Pharmacy section.....Boost, Ensure, etc. Some of them don't taste very good, but maybe you can find one you like.
I think integrative medicine is a wonderful thing. Even a good massage might help right now! Hugs to you.
Of course I love smoothies and I have been drinking them every now and then - full of blueberries, strawberries, bananas, orange juice, etc. And V8 VFusion, frozen fruit bars and milk shakes. But I prefer the popsicles. I have been drinking Gatorade, Ginger Ale and Sierra Mist (which tastes exactly like the original 7Up) since I came down with the pancreatitis. Right now, I am more worried about iron loss since the amount of blood lost through my nosebleeds and coughing is cupfuls as opposed to teaspoonfuls. Gross, huh?
I would definitely keep the Dr. informed as to the amt. of blood loss. They would want to know. I'm sure they are keeping track of your Hemoglobin & Hematocrit, but these can change quickly, especially with that kind of loss. Maybe at least an iron supplement would be good? Sounds like you are taking good care of yourself. Remember there are advice nurses at your Drs. offices that you can talk with, too. They are often the most helpful...at least, I think so. :)
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